Child protective latching systems (hereinafter latching systems) are often used in many children devices such as high chairs, car seats, strollers, shopping carts and the like to secure the child in the device. The latching systems used in these child devices may include simple two point lap belts, 3-prong systems, 3-point “Y” shape belts, 4 or 5 point harness systems, and the like. Each of the aforementioned latching systems generally has a locking mechanism. The locking mechanism may be comprised of a buckle which may be positioned on a distal end of at least one belt member and one or more locking tabs positioned on a distal end of one or more different belt members. To lock the latching system, one generally inserts the locking tab into the buckle. To unlock the latching system, one may press one or more release buttons on the buckle. The release button may be a separate button located on the buckle that releases the locking tab from the buckle. Alternatively, portions of the locking tab may protrude out from the buckle and may need to be pressed inwards to release the locking tab from the buckle.
Both the release button and the portions of the tabs that extend out of the buckle are generally accessible to the child when the child is properly restrained in the child device by the latching system. Thus, children may be capable of intentionally or inadvertently pressing the release button or the protruding tab on the buckle and unlock the latching system. This can be extremely dangerous in that the child can endure harm if not properly restrained, especially if an adult supervising the child is unaware that the child has become unrestrained.
Presently, there are protective covers that may be positioned over the buckle of the latching system. However, these buckles provide no indication to one watching the child if the protective cover has been opened by the child. Thus, a child may still be able to remove the protective cover and unlock the latching system without anyone knowing. Further, present protective covers are only designed for specific buckle types and are not interchangeable with different types of buckles. For example, while present protective covers may be used for a two point latching systems, they are not designed to be used with a 3 prong latching systems or a 4 or 5 point harness system.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a system and method that overcome the above identified concerns, as well as additional challenges which will become apparent from the disclosure set forth below.